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Lake of Gekcha / Sevanga / Sevan and Azerbaijani Iravan Khanate

Lake of Gekcha / Sevanga and Qajar Iran's Azerbaijani Iravan Khanate, Transcaucasia in 1801 - 1813,
published in Tiflis, 1901, legend in Russian.

Imperial Russia's official map (1801-1813) shows the ceded by the Qajars (Turk/Azeri dynasty of Iran, Azerbaijani: Qacarlar) Iravan Khanate (Persian: Khānāt-e IravānAzerbaijani: Irəvan xanlığı, Russian: Erivan) and the Lake of Gekcha (Azerbaijani: Göyçə/Gökçe, Turkish: Kökçe)/ Sevanga that means blue water.

In Classical Antiquity the lake was called Lychnitis Lacus, (Ancient Greek: Λυχνῖτις), meaning blue and transparent water.

The lake's name has Sasanian origin and derives from Sivāng-e (Pahlavi/Middle Persian). 

Notably, the name of Hrazdan river (Pahlavi: Hurazdān, Azerbaijani/ Turkish: Zangi/ Zanga çay), which flows out from the lake, is derived from the Middle Persian name Frazdān which is related to the Zoroastrian mythology. Frazdān is the name of the lake mentioned in the Avesta (Frazdānu). Frazdānu is composed of the elements fraz “elevated, high” and dānu “river”.

The Russified name Sevanga originates from Middle Persian Sivāng-e. 

The armenized name Sevan is a corrupted form of the Russified Sevanga or Middle Persian Sivāng-e. 

Source:

- The Caucasian region in 1801- 1813, The Head-Quarter of Russia's Caucasian Military District, Tiflis, 1901, legend in Russian, available at: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Map_of_Caucasus_1801.jpg

Allen, William Edward David; Muratoff, Paul (1953). Caucasian Battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border 1828–1921. Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-108-01335-2. ...Lake Sevan (A. Sevan; T. Gök-çay; 'Blue water')

- Bosworth C. E., (1986) “ARRĀN,” Encyclopædia Iranica, II/5, pp. 520-522, available online at  http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arran-a-region

-  Graesse, J. G., Orbis Latinus, 1972, vol. 2, p. 434, https://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0005/bsb00050913/images/index.html?fip=193.174.98.30&seite=436&pdfseitex=

- Minorsky, V., “Caucasica IV,” BSOAS 15, 1953, pp. 504-29

Russell, J.R., “Armeno-Iranica,” in Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce II, Acta Iranica 25, Leiden, 1985, pp. 447-58

- Semenov, Petr Petrovič (1873). Geografičesko-statističeskij slovarʹ Rossijskoj Imperii: Pavasterort – Sjatra-Kasy, Volume 4 (in Russian). Bezobrazov i komp. p. 532. "Sevanga, ozero, Erivanskoi gubernii, Novobayazetskogo uezda", sm Gokchinskoe, (Севанга, озеро, Эриванской г-іи, Новобаязетскаго у.; см. Гокчинское).

Schütz, E. (1998). Armeno-Turcica Selected Studies. Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies. p. 273.

Sykes, Sir Percy, "A History Of Persia". e-Book 2013, Vol. 2. Taylor & Francis, First Published, London, 1915, pages 672, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315017136

- Woods, John E. (1999). The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire. University of Utah Press. ISBN 978-0-87480-565-9. ...Lake Gökçe (Sevan) in Armenia...”

- Map of Khanate of Erivan in 1809-1817, available online at https://picryl.com/media/khanate-of-eriwan-in-1809-1817-d371ef

- Map of Russia's Military Operations in Transcaucasia from 1809 till 1817, showing local borders under the Treaties of Gulistan and Bucharest, (Карта военных действий в Закавказском крае с 1809 по 1817 год, с границами по Голистанскому договору и Бухарестсткому миру), available online at https://runivers.ru/upload/iblock/558/174748.png


Azerbaijani Erivan Khanate Flag (Khan's Standard)

 

Azerbaijani Erivan Khanate Flag (Khan's Standard), National Museum of History, Baku, Azerbaijan

The Flag (Khan's Standard) of Qajar's Azerbaijani Khanate of Erivan (Persian: خانات ایروان, Khānāt-e Iravān, Azerbaijani: Irəvan xanlığıpresent-day Armenia). 

The Khanate of Erivan was ceded to Imperial Russia by Qajar's (r. 1789-1925, Turk/Azeri dynasty) Iran under the Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828 (Persian: عهدنامه ترکمانچای, Ahdnāme-ye Torkmânčây,
Azerbaijani: Türkmənçay müqaviləsi).


Administrative division of  Azerbaijan's Khanate of Erivan, 1820

Later, Russia established the so-called Armenian Oblast (province), which existed from 1828 to 1840. 

The Erivan Khanate was mostly populated by Azeri Turks up to 80%, whereas Christian Monophysites Armenians formed less than 20%.

Source:

- Museum of History of Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan, http://azhistorymuseum.gov.az/en/

- Ministry of Defence, Baku, Azerbaijan, mod.gov.az/en/the-history-of-iravan-410/

- Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus (PDF). Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300153088, https://abkhazworld.com/aw/Pdf/Atlas_of_the_Ethno-Political_History_of_the_Caucasus.pdf